Thirteen Chimes: Bleep
by Roli2906
Summary: The third episode of the 'Thirteen Chimes' series. In this episode the Doctor finds himself on a mysterious, abandoned robot planet with a strange past. Following a message on his psychic paper, he must find his way through the labyrinth of corridors and sectors in an attempt to save the only living being, constantly avoiding the clutches of a psychotic robot.
1. Prologue

Far, far away from planet Earth, at a dull, unappealing star, a single planet sits in orbit. A synthetic planet, constructed entirely from metal and concrete and computers, aimlessly moving through space. Filled with empty rooms and silent corridors, this planet lies abandoned by its creators but not by their creations. An echo of a whirring saw cuts through the silence of this dead computer planet with malice.  
Deep down, on the 135th floor, a distorted scream shouts out to nobody before silence once again reclaims the air. The scream, the saw, both die into faded echoes, followed only by one heavy, deafening clang. It resonates through the planet like a gong for more than five minutes and somewhere, in a pitch-black room, a soft whimpering sound can be heard, not unlike that of a young girl. Trying its best to stay quiet, the voice pants in short stutters before whispering slowly and almost unheard.  
"P-p-please…save…me." The cry falls silent as the last echo of the clang fades away. Then silence. The planet is dead and lifeless once more. Then, a new sound. Something completely and utterly new. Unrecognisable and entirely unheard of before and almost impossible to describe.  
"It's like the wind…" Thought the child. "No, more like a siren. Or a whistle. Now it's screeching and reverberating. What could it be?" And then it stopped with a short clang but unlike the other, this one did not fill her with feelings of dread but somehow it was almost comforting. Like her prayers had been answered.

Up, way up, on the surface of the planet, something rather odd had appeared. On this abandoned hunk of metal, way out in the unwanted reaches of space, a blue box now stood proudly, warm lights shining from within and reflecting colour upon the metal floor below. Words from an ancient Earth language are written in glowing writing above what seems to be a door. "Police Public Call Box".


	2. Chapter One: Back in the swing of things

Inside the TARDIS, the centre column rose and sank to the rhythm of a far off whine. A pair of decorated double doors swung open on one of the room's many sides and in stepped a man deep in thought. He carried into the room with him a small piece of paper and a rather large, black book. He scanned the paper closely and thoroughly past furrowed brows as he made his way to a particularly comfortable looking arm chair and a small coffee table sat in front of a fireplace.  
He let his legs give in and fell lightly onto the chair, sinking into its thick, fluffiness, all the while still giving the paper his full attention. Without looking he dropped the large book onto the table and then a second later placed the paper next to it. He leant forward and clapped twice quickly, causing the fireplace to immediately ignite into glowing embers.  
The red light of the fireplace danced magically on his own bright orange hair and created a stark contrast in his cold, blue eyes. He reached forward and probed about half way through the book's pages before pulling it open with a strong yank. Inside the book was covered with different scrawls of various people's handwriting. Hundreds of different messages, each with a different person's name.  
He lifts the piece of paper closer to the page and examines the penmanship in the writing. Flicking through page after page, back and forth, he cannot find a satisfying match. After a while he sits back in his chair and slams the book closed again. Drawing the paper closer to his eyes he reads the words again. "Please save me."  
"Well, you're a new one." The Doctor said out loud to himself, drawing the paper up with an outstretched arm. "Unfortunately, that means I've got no idea where you are."  
The Doctor gave a groan as he leant forward once more, pulling himself up and out of his chair. He clapped his hands twice and the fire faded away as he stepped closer to the unnatural light of the centre console. The large column glowed an almost violent spectrum of blues and reds as the numerous bulbs blinked in their own individual patterns all over the desk.  
"Luckily for you," The Doctor said as he pressed a few buttons, "you sound like you're in trouble. And if there's one thing I _can_ find in this universe…" The Doctor flung his arm upwards, cranking a rather unyielding lever. "It's trouble."  
The lever gave way and the large cylinder in the middle of the console began to rise and fall at an increased rate. A sound echoed from the depths of the construct; a kind of windy, siren with a whistle and a bit of a groan. Then clang! The TARDIS had arrived.  
The Doctor looked to the bright blue doors of the TARDIS that led to the strange, new world and the strange new adventure it heralded. An almost sinisterly happy smile spread on his face and he ran to grab his new, white coat from the coat hook next to the door. He reached into the pocket and pulled out his new sonic screwdriver. About the length of a good sized screwdriver with a pair of connected, folded claws at the end. He pushed a button and they separated open, revealing a small, orange light between them. It whirred, buzzed and whistled in a harmonic tone the Doctor knew well.  
He released the button and the claws sprang back shut. He threw it, spinning into the air and caught it again before finally pulling on his coat and opening the door to the outside, screwdriver held at the ready.

From inside the strange, blue police box emerged an equally strange man. Dressed in a red t-shirt, brown trousers, smart black shoes and a pale white coat, this man seemed to carry a rather boring lack of fashion sense. He looked down to the metal surface beneath him and caught his own reflection. He seemed to give himself a thumbs up before continuing on his way.  
The sky above him was dark and clear, revealing millions of far off stars and one close one around which the Doctor presumed the planetoid must be orbiting. He took a deep breath, almost spluttering at the discernible taste of metal in the air. He winced and drew himself back upright, forcing himself to go on.  
He drew his eyes into a squint as he tried to focus, scanning the horizon for anything interesting but there was nothing he could find. As far as he could see it, the planet was just metal for miles around with no landmarks whatsoever. He looked to the floor again and knelt down, drawing the sonic screwdriver to aim directly at the surface. He pushed the button and the screwdriver sprang open, the light shining once more but more significantly, the sound. The screwdriver's whirring, buzzing, whistling sound hit the surface of the metal and travelled down, deep down into the miles and miles of metal. Through corridors and around corners, the sound echoed everywhere.  
On one level, two sinister red eyes shone brightly. The owner of the eyes drew into a vicious grin and the whirring of gears and motors brought the creature to life. Its shadow grew as it stood to its feet, a large yet slender frame, carrying a large round buzz saw in its left hand. It lifted its head and looked straight up, to the source of the sound.  
Elsewhere, the sound fell upon different ears. A kinder, gentler soul heard the sound, this second unfamiliar sound and knew that somehow, her pleas were being heard. She drew up all her courage and against everything inside her telling her to be as quiet as possible, she spoke once again.  
"T-thank you." Her voice wavered and cracked but the words were there. They had to be. "Please, save me."  
The strange, monstrous creature now shifted its gaze. Instead of looking up to the source of the whirring, it focused its attention beyond the walls to his left and down many floors beneath itself. Something else was grabbing its attention. Something it knew it wanted.  
Back up on the surface, the Doctor retracted his screwdriver and the whirring died down. He ran his hands through his hair as he looked to his tool. There it was, the screwdriver had told him everything he needed to know. The planet was a gigantic, hollow frame. It was essentially a large, spherical building but the one thing the screwdriver hadn't managed to pinpoint was any significant signs of danger, or a life in trouble.  
He stood and turned to his TARDIS again, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the psychic paper once more. His eyes widened as new words wrote themselves onto the paper before him. 'Thank you.' Did that mean he was in the right place after all? 'Please, save me.' Nevertheless, this stranger had heard the sonic screwdriver and responded.  
Suddenly, a powerful, distorted roar vibrated through the planet. The Doctor jumped and fell back onto the floor. He checked his paper quickly again. 'Please! Save me!' The stranger had heard it too, unsurprisingly. 'It knows where I am now!' The Doctor's eyes showed fear. 'You have to come, quickly!'  
The roaring continued as the Doctor found his way to his feet and with a newfound look of determination, pointed his screwdriver very poignantly at the floor around him. He waved it around and around.  
"Come on! I know it was around here somewhere." He bit his lip and he spoke to himself. Finally, he stopped his screwdriver on a specific spot. "A-ha!" He pushed the button in and slid it up, causing the end of the screwdriver to rise up on a thinner strand. When the sphere with the claws and the light extended fully it began to rotate with a stronger whistle.  
About five feet in front of him, a circular panel opened in an aperture and without second thought of hesitation, the Doctor ran and leapt straight into it. He retracted the screwdriver and jammed the paper back into his pocket as he prepared himself for a long fall.  
The hatch had led directly into what looked like an exhaust pipe of some kind. It seemed to lead directly into the planet's core and as the Doctor fell closer and closer towards it, he felt an overwhelming heat. After about seventy feet he pulled a yo-yo from his pocket, attached it to his finger and sent it spinning onto a nearby pipe. It hooked on and the Doctor positioned himself as the string pulled tight and swung him straight into a well-aimed for ledge in the side of the exhaust.  
He smiled broadly to himself and mentally patted himself on the back for a jolly good manoeuvre. A flick of his wrist and the yo-yo dislodged itself and span back along the string and up, neatly into the Doctor's waiting hand. He span it down and up again a few more times to congratulate it before he removed the string from his finger and threw it back into his pocket.  
He turned his back to the vent and noticed that the ledge he was now stood on was in fact a door. He looked for a handle and found a large, metal wheel which he grabbed immediately and turned to open the door. As he tried to move it he realised that it had rusted itself into position. The Doctor pulled his hand into a fist and hit the door in frustration. A stupid move in hindsight as the force he used only served to hurt his own hand. He rubbed it gently in his other as he breathed sharply through clenched teeth.  
"Stupid door!" The Doctor yelled in anger as he shook his pulsating hand. He was a little taken aback as he heard his own voice over and over and over again, echoing through the vent. It was little comfort however as he continued to nurse his hand.  
After a moment, and with one last clench of his hand, the Doctor had regained his composure and approached the door once again. He grabbed the wheel again and rocked it the couple of inches it could before releasing it and taking a step back, to the edge of the ledge, to assess the situation. It was then that he realised, it was getting hotter.  
Peering over the edge, the Doctor's fears were confirmed by the increasing, red hot glow coming from the base of the pipe. At this rate he only had a few moments to either open this door or pray that his final death will be a quick one. Pulling his screwdriver out once again, he aimed it at the wheel and pushed the button as hard as he could.  
The claw protruded once more and span vigorously for a moment before jamming in position, struggling to keep going. The Doctor furrowed his brow as a drop of sweat fell just past his eyebrow. He leant closer and closer to the door. It had to work.  
A creaking erupted from the wheel and then a snap. That did it, the wheel was turning again and the door was unlocked. Without a moment to lose, the Doctor pushed open the door and threw himself inside, flinging the door shut behind him just as a blast of red energy erupted up through the exhaust. Surprisingly though, the Doctor felt none of the heat at all. He touched the door's metal surface and found it to be quite cool so he rested his forehead against it, cooling off.  
"I'm getting too old for this." He said to himself before he took out the psychic paper again.  
'Was that you I just heard?' The Doctor laughed to himself as another loud roar erupted through the planet. This time it was closer to the Doctor but not only that, it sounded triumphant. The Doctor checked his paper again, 'Please hurry'.  
The Doctor looked around as the roaring subsided and noticed that the corridor before him went on and on with only window on either side every so often. It was as though this passage was some sort of back room, a place to view everything that went on in this place in private. The Doctor stepped up to the first window and peered in. His jaw dropped as he saw what was inside.  
"Just what is this place?"


End file.
